Join beer experts Pete Brown and Melissa Cole, gin-historian Richard Barnett, and London brewers and distillers for a celebration and discussion of London and it’s drinking history and culture; from the taverns to the gin craze, to craft brewing and beyond. Londonist and Conway Hall Ethical Society are proud to present an evening of ale, gin, pubs, conversation and a tipsy toddle through our fantastic city’s history and life.
London has always celebrated, commiserated, mediated or self-mediated over an alcoholic drink. Tonight we delve (responsibly) into this rich and boozy culture looking at the history of London’s beer and gin life, discuss pubs past, present and future. A bar of London-based brewers and distillers will be open from 6.30pm including Five Points, Brew By Numbers, Wild Card and more.
Pete Brown is a London-based writer who specialises in making people thirsty. He is the author of five-and-a-half books, mostly about beer, as well as the annual Cask Report, and numerous articles in the drinks trade press and consumer press. He appears regularly on TV and radio, and is a judge on the BBC Food and Farming Awards and the Great Taste Awards. He is a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers, and was named Beer Writer of the Year in 2009 and 2012.
Author, journalist, broadcaster and sommALEier Melissa Cole writes extensively about beer. Her début book Let Me Tell You About Beer has been hailed as the perfect beginner’s guide to beer, and has now been launched not only in the UK but France, Brazil, USA and Canada. Melissa is a regular speaker at food and beer festivals all over the world, and was named Educator of the Year by Imbibe magazine in 2013.
Richard Barnett a writer, teacher and broadcaster, mostly on the cultural history of science and medicine, and a poet. His books include The Dedalus Book of Gin and Medical London: City of Diseases, City of Cures.
Doors open at 6.30pm.